Wyoming, NY asked in Gov & Administrative Law for New York

Q: Church trustees. Can allowance be made for a trustee to serve more than 2 terms?

We have a small church, and we would like to put a clause in the by-laws that would allow a trustee to serve another term (past their second term) if there were no qualified members able to serve at that time. It would be for only 1 additional term.

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Hello. You should be able to amend your bylaws to allow a consecutive term of a current trustee to serve another term. For your specific situation, you can include a clause in your church's bylaws that allows for an additional term beyond the standard two terms if there are no qualified members available to serve. This is consistent with common practices in other religious organizations. Feel free to reach out if you have further questions.

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